Remember the red affair or how a camera deals with colors Red is said to be one of the most difficult color to process for dSLR. I picked flowers with different nice colors and shot them in RAW and JPEG. Here is the comparison between RAW and JPEG results.

Red1/500 f/2.8 iso100 135mm
RAW

JPEG

RAW 600x600 crop

JPEG 600x600 crop

I think I could trust the K-7 built-in JPEG processing. All the nuances are preserved

White1/3200 f/2.8 iso100 135mm

RAW

JPEG

Pink, 21/250 f/2.8 iso100 135mm

RAW

JPEG

Yellow and white1/500 f/2.8 iso100 135mm

RAW

JPEG

Pink1/400 f/2.8 iso100 135mm

RAW

JPEG

The K-7 built-in JPEG conversion engine works fine. The JPEG images may look darker than the RAW ones, and thus may need some post-processing. The RAW images are better balanced. What's important, in RAW as well as in JPEG formats, colors are nice, without over-saturation and the nuances are preserved.

The Menu button brings a rash of 15 different screens on the rear LCD.

Among many, many other parameters,

P-mode: (again)

Enhanced bracketing (again)

HDR (again)

Digital filter (again)

Multiple exposures

Intervalometer

Electronic horizon with automatic correction

Conclusion

All this, and especially the 4 levels of commands, may look complicated at first glance. At the contrary: each level is carefully designed. Most commands are at level 1 with no need for reading the rear LCD. If more commands are needed, try level 2 with the shortcut buttons. If the solution isn't provided, escalate to level 3 through the info button. Last solution is level 4 with the menu button. Please, avoid using that level 4 on the field

Consider level 1 as consistent with a film camera. Level 2 manages the digital aspects of the SLR (as white balance) and provides some electronic assistance (as timer or remote). Level 3 features sophisticated processes such as color and distorsion aberration or HDR. Level 4 is more oriented at tweaking the camera at home before going to the fields.

The truth is, I was first disappointed and disoriented by so many levels and so many options. The user manual only lists the options one after the other, without providing a clue on the philosophy behind the 4 levels and the purpose of each one. The K10D had only 2 levels, corresponding to level 1 and level 4, but obviously didn't feature so many options.

But after half an hour, I felt at home. Sure, I've been prepared by many years with the K10D . However, during my first batch of tests, I used level 1 most of the time, level 2 occasionally mainly for white balance, level 3 maybe twice and level 4 never.

I'm confident that, after a short learning period, each user would prioritize the options to use regarding the needs, and then find the best way to deal with those four different levels

Sorry, it has been a long and wordy post with no pictures, but dealing with so many options may be confusing. But I'm convinced that, when the logic behind those four levels is clearly stated, everything becomes obvious and easy to enjoy

Weather was just horendous in Paris , as usual in October / November. This is Autumn, with some taste of Winter. For sure, that's different in the South hemisphere , isn't it Gordon

So I stayed at home, and played with macro. The Remote Assistant which used to be part of the software, is no longer available. However, LiveView could provide a good alternative, together with the infrared remote.

I launched a batch of tests on ISO and HDR. All pictures are with f/4.0 and 103.0 mm.

0.3s iso100

1/6s iso200

1/13s iso400

1/25s iso800

1/50s iso1600

1/100s iso3200

1/100s iso6400

Image quality is stunning till iso400, artefacts are barely visible at iso800 and noise is visible starting iso1600. So the working range starts from iso100 up to iso800. The K10D stopped providing noise-free pictures at iso400. Note that the iso6400 is an option and requires to be switched on somewhere on the Menu parameters (Level 4).

Let's see more details, a 600x600 crop in the center.

iso100 iso200 iso400 iso800 iso1600 iso3200 iso6400

As a standard, keeping auto-ISO 100-800 is fine. ISO is clearly shwon on the top LCD, and changing the ISO value is just a button away thanks to the dedicated ISO hardware button.

The absence of Remote Assistant is largely compensated by the live-view feature. For still or macro pictures, this is perfect, provided the camera is on a tripod.

I tried to use live-view outdoor, but I didn't like it so much: I rather prefer the view finder.

However, indoor or in poor light conditions, live-view is much comfortable than peeping through the view-finder, especially with the zoom feature provided by live-view on the large LCD.

All starts with the live-view button.

Real subject and on screen picture are consistent

The AF zone could be selected on screen by the four-ways pad. Focusing is obtained by pressing the AF button. Three modes are provided: 1) standard AF or phase difference, 2) contrast AF, and 3) by default, face detection and contrast AF.

Live-view provides a nice alternative to the now-defunct Remote Assistant. It suits perfectly still- and macro-photography, especially when the camera is mounted on a tripod. Then, poor light conditions are easily addressed .

On level 4, there's a parameter about noise reduction on the Menu > Custom > 3 > High ISO Noise Reduction with four options.

Please note that no pictures were post-processed.

Off

Low

Medium

High

And the usual 600 x 600 crops.

Off Low Medium High

The result is clearly visible on the watch dial. I guess some post-processing could boost the contrast and even smooth the noise.

Being on level 4 through the Menu button, this parameter is not intended to be changed on the fields . From my average user point of view , I'd rather prefer to avoid ISO 3200 and complicated noise reduction parameters , and work with lower ISO up to 800, slower speeds and the shake reduction I know I could rely on